Chapter 11
CENTRAL AMERICA
and
The Caribbean
A. Central America
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Guatemala
Belize
Honduras
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
B. Isthmus
1. Narrow strip
of land with
water on both
sides.
2. Central
America is a
land bridge
between North
& South
America
C. Landforms & Climates
1. Mountainous
Core
2. Runs the length of
Central America
3. Some are over
13,000’ above sea
level
C. Landforms & Climates
4. Between 3,000’ and 6,000’
the climate is spring-like
all year.
a. Corn, Coffee & wheat are
grown
5. Above 6,000’, it is too cold
for many crops
a. Potatoes and barley are
grown
6. Caribbean Lowlands
a. On the eastern side
b. Edge of the Caribbean
 Hot
 Humid
 Heavy rainfall
c. Soil is NOT fertile,
limiting crops
Landforms & Climates
Caribbean Lowlands
Nicaragua
Landforms & Climates
Pacific Coastal Plain
7. Pacific Coastal Plain
a. Tropical wet/dry climate
 Rain in the summer
 Dry in the winter
b. Local volcanoes have
produced fertile soils
D. The People
1. Several ethnic groups
a. Isolated due to mountains
b. Mountains make it hard
for people to “mix”
2. INDIANS
a.
Largest number live in Guatemala
3. EUROPEANS
a. Spain conquered and
colonized in the 1500s
b. MESTIZOS: Found
throughout Central America
4. AFRICANS
a. SOME are
descendents of slaves
b. Most are descendents
of Africans who
immigrated to the
region in the early
1900s.
c. Many came to build
the Panama Canal
E. WEALTH & POVERTY
1. Most people are very poor
2. At least 2/3 of the population
3. The wealthy are mostly
Europeans or Mestizo
4. The wealthy dominate the
government
5. There is a small, but growing
middle class
F. FARMING ECONOMY
1. Most farming is
subsistence farming
2. In Guatemala and
Honduras, 50% of the
population are in
farming
3. Some people work on
huge plantations for
very low wages
F. FARMING ECONOMY
4. Greatest export crops in
Central America:
a. Cotton, Bananas & Coffee
5. Hurricane Mitch in 1998:
a. Destroyed much
G. Political Unrest
1. Continuing struggle between the
rich landowners and the poor.
2. Death Squads: Killers hired by
wealthy to kill any one who
disagrees with the government.
a. Many people in El Salvador and
Guatemala were killed.
3. Some ended in revolutions and
counter-revolutions.
H.
GUATEMALA
1. Largest population in Central
America
2. Agricultural Economy
a. Coffee, Sugar & Bananas
3. Descendents of the Mayans
4. Mayans are the majority
5. But, Ladinos Rule
a.
Ladinos: Mestizos who follow European
Ways
I. BELIZE
1. English colony (main
language is English)
2. Present population:
a.
b.
c.
d.
50% Mestizo
African
European
Asian
J. PANAMA CANAL
1. In 1881, France contracted with
Colombia to build a canal
2. Problems:
a. Mud slides
b. Mountains
c. Malaria
3. After a few years, the digging stopped.
4. 40 years later, the U.S. built the canal.
K. WHY BUILD A CANAL?
1. New York To San Francisco (S. Am.) 13,000 miles
2. New York To San Francisco (Canal) 5,200 miles
L. CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
1. The three island groups:
a. Greater Antilles
 South of Florida
 Jamaica
 Hispaniola
 Puerto Rico
 Cuba
b. Lesser Antilles (Southeast of Florida)
c. Bahamas (East of Florida)
2. Archipelago (ar kih PEHL ih goh)
a. A group of islands
M. Island Formation
1. Greater Antilles & some Lesser
Antilles are the tops of volcanoes.
a. Some are still erupting
b. Volcanic ash creates very good soil
2. Others, usually the smaller ones,
are coral islands.
a. All of the Bahamas are Coral
islands.
N. MARINE CLIMATE
1. Winds blow over the
cooler, ocean waters,
and “air-conditions”
the islands
a. Average year-round
high is 800
2. Windward side
receives rainfall
3. Leeward side is dry
O. ETHNIC ROOTS
1.
2.
3.
Earliest peoples were the
Cibonay & Caribs
(Caribbean)
After the Europeans had
conquered Latin America,
many natives died from the
diseases that the Europeans
brought.
Others died from
enslavement and cruel
treatment.
P. AFRICAN DESCENT
1. Millions of Africans were
brought as slaves to work the
sugarcane plantations.
2. Some emigrated to find work
3. Invented calypso music
a. Steel drums
b. Satirical Lyrics
Q. ASIANS
1. Descendents of Asians
who came to the
Caribbean in the
1800s to work.
2. After slavery was
abolished, plantation
owners sought for
cheap labor
R. The Caribbean Today
1. Most Caribbean peoples
live in independent
countries
2. Some islands are still linked
to U.S. and Europe
a. British Virgin Islands
b. U.S. Virgin Islands
c. Martinique (France)
S. Commercial/Subsistence
1. Huge plantations
producing:
a. Bananas, Rice and Cotton
b. Locals are hired at low
wages to work the
plantations and vacation
resorts.
2. Many other people grow
food for their own family.
T. MIGRATION
1. Movement of people
2. Usually for employment
a. Sometimes Temporary
b. Sometimes Permanent
3. Hundreds of thousands
came to build the
Panama Canal
U. POLITICAL UNREST
1.
Communism in Cuba
a. Fidel Castro took power in 1959;
we’re still waiting for him to go.
2. Military dictatorships in Haiti
a. Papa Doc & Baby Doc were two of
the worst
3. Many Cubans and Haitians
immigrated to the U.S.
a. Send $$$$ home to help the family
Reach For A Star Production
John P. Luke
www.mrluke.net